Parque Nacional Palo Verde

Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica

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Parque Nacional Palo Verde is a large protected wetland area in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica, straddling the Tempisque River basin about 30 kilometers west of the town of Bagaces.

It covers roughly 18,400 hectares of flooded plains, marshes, tropical dry forests, mangroves, and low limestone hills, forming one of the country’s most important mosaics of natural habitats. The park is especially famous as a birdwatching destination, supporting hundreds of species, including waterfowl, scarlet macaws, jabiru storks, and great curassows, many of which rely on the seasonal flooding of its wetlands for feeding and nesting.

In 1991 it was declared a Ramsar‑listed Wetland of International Importance because of its vital role in maintaining regional water cycles and biodiversity. Visitors typically reach the park from the Inter‑American Highway near Bagaces, then explore by boat tours along the Tempisque and its side channels, where they can see crocodiles, iguanas, monkeys, and a rich array of plants such as palo verde trees, mangroves, and tropical hardwoods.